Draft gear mechanism

ABSTRACT

A rear wall construction, for a draft gear mechanism having a casing, comprising a plate member seated within the rear end of the casing, passageway means formed in the plate member, aperture means in the casing and alignable with the ends of the passageway means, and key means lying in the passageway means and engaged in the aperture means to retain the plate member in position.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Laurence T. La Belle Lansing, 111. 752,696

Aug. 14, 1968 Jan. 12, 1971 Miner Enterprises, Inc.

Chicago, Ill. a corporation of Delaware DRAFT GEAR MECHANISM 8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

' 213/32, 213/40 861g 9/08, B61 g 11/06 213/22, 24,

lnt.C1..

- Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,903,143 9/1959 Gadbois 2,953,260 9/1960 Danielson .r 2,326,288 8/1943 Dath 3,403,790 10/ 1968 Zanow Primary ExaminerDrayton Er Hoffman Attorneys-Edward F. Jurow and Clifford A. Dean ABSTRACT: A rear wall construction, for a draft gear mechanism having a casing, comprising a plate member seated within the rear end of the casing, passageway means formed in the plate member, aperture means in the casing and alignable with the ends of the passageway means, and key means lying in the passageway means and engaged in the aperture means to retain the plate member in position.

PATENTEU JAN 1 2 l9?! 1 sum 3 OF 3 i are seated within the cutouts.

DRAFT GEAR MECHANISM FIELD OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The basic concept of the present invention concerns the provision of a draft gear mechanism having a rear wall plate member which is keyed to the casing.

In one embodiment, parallelzpassageways are provided edgewise through the plate member, recesses are provided in the casing, and a pair of key members are disposed in each passageway and engaged in the recesses. The plate member is also formed with outwardly facing entrance holes, and a spacer block is secured in each of the holes intermediate of the key members to maintain the latter engaged in the recesses. In a variation of this embodiment, the entrance holes are approximately one-half the width of the passageways, and thespacer blocks are secured in the passageways at the sides of the entrance holes. I

In another embodiment, parallel channels are provided across the outer face of the-plate member, openings are provided in the walls of the'casing, and a bar member is disposed in each channel with the ends thereof secured in the openings. The bar members may be either rectangular or circular in cross section. a

It is a feature of all embodiments that .a substantially positive interfit is provided between the casing and the plate member. In this connection,- the casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, and the plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which With each of the foregoing arrangements, a high-strength rear closure construction is attained,-and the resultant draft gear mechanism is economical, easily assembled and trouble free. i

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 'l-"is a longitudinal elevational view of a draft gear mechanism, with portions being broken away along the line 1-1 in FIG. 2 and shown in section, incorporating one embodiment of rear wall construction of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear end view of the draft gear mechanism of FIG. 1, with portions being broken awayand shown in section;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view, taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the rear wall construction of FIG. I;

FIG. 5 is a partial rear end view of another embodiment of rear wall construction of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view, taken substantially along the line 6-6 in FIG. 5, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view, taken substantially along the line 7-7 in FIG. 5, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

FIG. 8 is a partial end view of a'further embodiment of rear wall construction of the present invention'and illustrates the use of a rectangular bar member; 1 7

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary elevational view, taken substantially along the plane 9-9 in FIG. 8, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary elevational view corresponding generally to FIG. 9, but illustrates the use of a circular bar member.

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, there is indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 a draft gear mechanism comprising a housing or casing 22 having a main body portion of rectangular cross section and a front end section 24 of hexagonal cross section. The front end section 24 is provided with tapered inner friction surfaces 26 that converge in a direction toward the rear end of the casing 22.

Arranged within and projecting from the front end section 24 of the casing 22 is force transmitting or friction clutch means 28 comprised of a wedge 30, and three winglike friction shoes 32, restrained against movement outwardly of the casing by interengaging lugs (not shown). The friction shoes 32 include tapered outer friction surfaces 34 which have frictional engagement with the friction surfaces 26 of the casing 22, and tapered inner friction surfaces 36 which have frictional engagement with the tapered outer friction surfaces 38 of the wedge 30.

Arranged within the rectangular body portion of the casing 22 are a front spring follower 40 which abuts the inner faces of the friction shoes 32, rear end wall means 42 of the present invention to be described in detail hereinafter, and intermediate resilient means comprised preferably of a stacked series of compressible elastomeric resilient pad units 44. Each unit 44 comprises a disc-shaped elastomer pad 46 interposed between and bonded to a pair of metal plates 48.

As is well known to those skilled in the art. the wedge 30 is moved relatively inwardly of the casing 22 during the applica tion of buff or draft forces to the draft gear 20. This movement of the wedge 30 effects simultaneous longitudinal and radial inward movement of the friction shoes 32. Concurrently, the resilient means resists the compound movement of the friction shoes 32 whereby to cushion, and absorb a portion of, the buff or draft forces.

The rear end wall means 42, as shown in FIGS. l4, comprises a plate member 50 having opposed lateral edge projections 52 which are engaged or seated within cutouts 54 formed in the rear end of the casing 22. The plate member 50 is provided with passageway means in the form of a pair of parallel rectangular passageways 56 extending edgewise through the plate member at either side of the projections 52. Intersecting each passageway 56 centrally of the ends thereof is an outwardly facing rectangular entrance hole 58. The walls of the casing 22 are provided with aperture means in the form of recesses 60 which are alignable with the ends of the passageways 56 when the plate member 50 is in mounted position.

Lying in the passageways 56, and engaged in the aligned recesses 60, is key means in the form of rectangular key members 62. A rectangular spacer block 64 .is disposed in each entrance hole 58 and a portion of the adjacent passageway 56 intermediate of the inner ends of the pair of associated key members 62. The spacer blocks 64, which are welded in place, maintain the key members 62 engaged in the recesses 60, and the plate member 50 is thereby retained in position.

To assemble the mechanism, the casing 22 is placed in an upended position with the rectangular rear end uppermost, and the wedge 30, friction shoes 32, front spring follower 40 and resilient pad units 44 are successively inserted within the casing 22. At this point in the assembly, the resilient means comprised of the pad units 44 will project beyond the open rear end of the casing 22 due to its extra length which provides initial compression when the device is completely assembled. The plate member 50 is placed on top of the stack of pad units 44, and pressure is applied, by a suitable tool or plunger (not shown), against the plate member 50 to compress the resilient means a sufficient distance to allow the plate projections 52 to seat in the casing cutouts 54. The key members 62 are then inserted through the entrance holes 58 into the passageways 56 and spread apart until they are engaged in the casing recesses 60, the spacer blocks 64 are disposed in the entrance holes 58 and the adjacent portions of the passageways 56, and the spacer blocks 64 are secured in position as by welding applied at the exposed ends thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 57, there is shown a modified embodiment of rear wall construction. The plate member 50a, like the previously described plate member 50, is provided with a pair of parallel rectangular passageways 56 (only one of which is shown). Each passageway 56 is intersected by an outwardly facing entrance hole 66 which is approximately onehalf the width of the passageway. Lying in the passageway 56 are rectangular key members 68 which, during assembly, are spread outwardly and engaged in the casing recesses 60. A rectangular spacer block 70 is inserted through the entrance hole 66 into the passageway 56, is moved laterally to the side of the hole, and is welded in place intermediate of the inner ends of the key members 68.

A further modified embodiment of rear wall construction is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Here, the plate member 50b is provided with passageway means in the form of a pair of parallel rectangular channels 72 (only one of which is shown) extending across the outer face of the plate member, and the casing 22' is provided with aperture means in the form of rectangular openings 74 alignable with the ends of the channel. In this embodiment, the key means associated with each channel 72 is in the form of a rectangular bar member 76 which, during assembly, is slid through the casing openings 74 and across the channel with the ends being welded in the openings 74. If desired, as shown in FIG. 10, a plate member 50c, similar to the plate 50b, may be retained in position by a pair of circular bar members 78 (only one being shown) extending across channels 80 in the plate 50c with the ends of the bars 78 welded in circular openings 82 in the casing 22 While there has been shown and described preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. In a draft gear mechanism including a casing open at both ends, force transmitting means within and projecting from one end of the casing, and resilient means within the casing, the improvement which comprises a plate member seated within the other open end of said casing, said plate member having passageway means formed therein, said casing having aperture means on its interior surface alignable with the ends of said passageway means in said plate member when said plate member is seated in said other open end thereof, and key means lying in said passageway means and having end portions engaged in said aperture means to retain said plate member in said seated position.

2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said passageway means is comprised ofa pair of parallel passageways extending edgewise through said plate member at each side thereof. said aperture means is comprised of recesses in the walls of said casing, and said key means is comprised ofa pair of key members in each of said passageways.

3. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said plate member is formed with outwardly facing entrance holes intersecting each of said passageways centrally of the ends thereof, and a spacer block is secured in each of said entrance holes and a portion of the adjacent passageway intermediate of the inner ends of the pair of associated key members to maintain the latter engaged in said recesses.

4. The improvement of claim 3 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts. and said passageways are arranged at either side of said projections.

5. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said plate member is formed with outwardly facing entrance holes which intersect each of said passageways centrally of the ends thereof and which are approximately one-half the width of said passageways, and a s acer block is secured in each of said passageways at the si e of said entrance hole intermediate of the inner ends of the pair of associated key members to maintain the latter engaged in said recesses.

6. The improvement of claim 5 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts, and said passageways are arranged at either side of said projections.

7. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said passageway means is comprised of a pair of parallel channels extending across the outer face of said plate member at each side thereof, said aperture means is comprised of openings in the walls of said casing, and said key means is comprised of a bar member disposed in each of said channels with the ends of the bar member secured in said openings.

8. The improvement of claim 7 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts, and said channels are arranged at either side of said projections. 

1. In a draft gear mechanism including a casing open at both ends, force transmitting means within and projecting from one end of the casing, and resilient means within the casing, the improvement which comprises a plate member seated within the other open end of said casing, said plate member having passageway means formed therein, said casing having aperture means on its interior surface alignable with the ends of said passageway means in said plate member when said plate member is seated in said other open end thereof, and key means lying in said passageway means and having end portions engaged in said aperture means to retain said plate member in said seated position.
 2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said passageway means is comprised of a pair of parallel passageways extending edgewise through said plate member at each side thereof, said aperture means is comprised of recesses in the walls of said casing, and said key means is comprised of a pair of key members in each of said passageways.
 3. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said plate member is formed with outwardly facing entrance holes intersecting each of said passageways centrally of the ends thereof, and a spacer block is secured in each of said entrance holes And a portion of the adjacent passageway intermediate of the inner ends of the pair of associated key members to maintain the latter engaged in said recesses.
 4. The improvement of claim 3 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts, and said passageways are arranged at either side of said projections.
 5. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said plate member is formed with outwardly facing entrance holes which intersect each of said passageways centrally of the ends thereof and which are approximately one-half the width of said passageways, and a spacer block is secured in each of said passageways at the side of said entrance hole intermediate of the inner ends of the pair of associated key members to maintain the latter engaged in said recesses.
 6. The improvement of claim 5 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts, and said passageways are arranged at either side of said projections.
 7. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said passageway means is comprised of a pair of parallel channels extending across the outer face of said plate member at each side thereof, said aperture means is comprised of openings in the walls of said casing, and said key means is comprised of a bar member disposed in each of said channels with the ends of the bar member secured in said openings.
 8. The improvement of claim 7 wherein said casing is formed with a pair of cutouts in the rear end thereof, said plate member is formed with a pair of opposed lateral edge projections which are seated within said cutouts, and said channels are arranged at either side of said projections. 